Pulling for "U”

Might takes flight at city’s first ever plane pull challenge

June 24th, 2012 – Calgary, AB – United Way volunteer and Strongman Champion, Marshall Ennis, officiated over Calgary’s first-ever Pulling for U event with 24 teams competing to pull a 180,000 lb. UPS Airbus A300 aircraft over a distance of 50 feet in the least amount of time on the tarmac at YYC.

“We are thrilled to co-host such a bold and exciting event alongside UPS and The Calgary Airport Authority who have been instrumental in its success,” said Dr. Lucy Miller, President and CEO of United Way of Calgary and Area. “Behind the tremendous success of this event were our generous event sponsors, AltaLink and NCS Oilfield Services, the competing teams and their individual sponsors who pulled together to help make Calgary a great city for everyone. Change starts here!”

While some teams got in the spirit by dressing up in costumes, others were in it to win. Winning Gold with a time of 16.65 seconds was the 15 member University of Calgary Dinos team. Close behind winning Silver was Nexen Inc. with a time of 17.01 seconds and winning Bronze was the UPS Brown Hornets with a finishing time of 17.05 seconds.

“The Calgary Airport Authority was pleased to join UPS, another long-time United Way supporter, in co-hosting YYC’s first plane pull event,” commented Jody Moseley, spokesperson for the Authority. “This is another example of the YYC airport community pulling together to help build a greater future for our city.”

All event registration and other proceeds from the event will go towards United Way, which will help support more than 200 programs. A UPS truck stuffed with food items will be generously donated to the Calgary Women’s Centre, one of 100 United Way supported local agencies.

“Teams literally pulled together to help support an incredible organization – United Way,” exclaimed John Dumigan, Prairie Division Manager for UPS Canada. “UPS feels very fortunate to be part of an event that honours and supports the efforts of an organization dedicated to supporting thousands of Calgarian’s each year.”

In addition to the Gold, Silver and Bronze category winners for fastest times, were also United Way’s Agency Rockstar team, who were presented with the Spirit Award.